Joyce (Unknown) Goffe (abt. 1608 - abt. 1639)

Born about 1608 in London, Middlesex, England

Wife of Edward Goffe — married 1629 in England

Descendants

Died about 1639 at about age 31 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Joyce (Unknown) Goffe migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

This profile is part of the Goff Name Study.

Joyce was born about 1608, but there is conflicting data in regards to her place of birth. One document states Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland; the other London, Middlesex - both in England.^{[citation needed]}

Edward Goffe was married twice. He married first in England, and his wife Joyce accompanied him to Massachusetts, as she was in fellowship with the church at Cambridge in 1636. The Third Supplement to Torrey says that Joyce's the marriage to Edward Goffe occurred in about 1629.^[1] Her maiden name has been unknown, but Roger Thompson posits that Edward Goffe came from St. Peters Parish, Iswpich, Suffolk.^[2] Based on this, he found the record of a marriage "1625   Edw. Goffe     Joice Frost    Wherstead", Suffolk,^[3] which is just down river from Ipswich. If his theory about the father and birth place of Edward is correct, he may well have found Edward's wife and the correct marriage date.

Joyce and Edward had four children: Samuel, Lydia, Mary and Nathaniel. Mary and Nathaniel died before they reached maturity. First son Samuel was born in England and was seven years old when he was baptized again in the church at Cambridge.

The list of members of the First Church at Cambridge from February 1636 includes Edward Goffe, Mrs. Joyce Goffe, and Mrs. Margaret Goffe.^[4] (This Margaret Goffe should not be the second wife of Edward, as his first wife, Joyce, did not die until 1638, however it is possible that Margaret is shown in an incorrect place on the list.)

Joyce died in 1638 at Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700; Author: Melinde Lutz Sanborn; Publisher: Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD; 2003, Page 114.
2. ↑ Thompson, Roger. Edward and Joyce Goffe: New Information about their Origins, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register' (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society. April 2004) 158:101-104. NEHGS Membership link.
3. ↑ Boyd's Marriage Index, Males A-K, 1601-1625, Page 225.
4. ↑ History of the First Church in Cambridge, in connection with the Shepard Congregational Society. n.p., printed for the Church and Society, 1872. Google Books (names of both Joyce and Edward listed)Page 13
5. ↑ Vital records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. Vol. II, Marriages and Deaths. Boston, Mass.: n.p. [Wright & Potter Print. Co.], 1914-15. Page 574

• Anderson R C The Great Migration Begins page 97 https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2496/42521_b158314-00179?pid=28855

• Epitaphs from the old burying-ground in Cambridge, p. 174 - via Ancestry.com

"(1638)Joyce, w. Edmund Goffe, d."

• A discourse on the Cambridge church-gathering in 1636, p. 49 - via Ancestry.com

"Shepard, in his autobiography, tells us, that his wife, Margaret, entered into church fellowship before her death. The names of the wives of the persons above mentioned, as presumed to be the first members of the church, are...., Joyce Goffe."